As treaties and trade agreements are implemented this year, more U.S. companies are looking at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations for fresh business opportunities. Fortunately, a whole host of logistics and transportation service providers are laying the groundwork to overcome inherent infrastructure challenges.

Today, U.S. trucking companies face more regulations than any time in history—and they claim this “regulatory tsunami” is putting the clamp on U.S. productivity. During this session shippers will gain a better understanding of the current state of trucking regulations (HOS & CSA) and the impact they're having on capacity and rates.

The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that its Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) increased 0.8 percent from August to September. This is the third straight month the Freight TSI has gone up.

According to BTS officials, the Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments in ton-miles, which are then combined into one index. The index measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The BTS said that the September Freight TSI at 115.8 is 22.1 percent higher than April 2009’s low point of 94.8 during the recession. And it added that the 115.8 mark is the highest all-time level for the Freight TSI, which has seen a cumulative gain of 7.0 percent over the last 11 months, since falling in October 2012.

BTS said the September Freight TSI 0.8 percent increase was paced by gains for all modes in measures with the exception rail carloads, adding that the growth in each month of the third quarter was on par with GDP growth of 2.8 percent over the same period.

On an annual basis, the Freight TSI is up 4.3 percent compared to September 2012, and on a year-to-date basis it is up 3.2 percent. On a quarterly basis, the Freight TSI was up 1.6 percent, 0.1 percent, and 1.5 percent annually in the first, second, and third quarters, respectively.

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The Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) reported this week that U.S. trade with its North America Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico in January dropped 1.2 percent to $89.3 billion.

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